Which one is it?

Wednesday

May 1, 2013 at 1:32 PM

Delude, v.t. — to mislead the mind or judgment of.Delusion, n., — a false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact.Rationalize, v., — to invent plausible explanations for actions that are actually based on less acceptable causes.

Charles MosleyGuest Columnist

Delude, v.t. — to mislead the mind or judgment of.Delusion, n., — a false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact.Rationalize, v., — to invent plausible explanations for actions that are actually based on less acceptable causes.You have three choices.At the end of this column, choose one of the above, all the above or none of the above.Gov. Jindal is always trying to make us believe that Louisiana is just a legislative act away from being the Mecca for new industry to relocate.But the problem is the legislative acts that he proposes and pushes further drive away the possibility of new industry choosing to invest in Louisiana.Gov. Jindal is certainly his own worst enemy and may be Louisiana’s worst enemy.His latest effort, the elimination of personal and corporate income taxes supplanted by increased sales taxes, can only be rationally explained by asking, “What was he thinking?”Thankfully, the Legislature had a rare spell of common sense — or was it self-preservation — and ignored the whole idea.Now if the Louisiana Legislature, which is not renowned for courage or reason, disavowed the idea, think how it sounded to corporate leaders who supposedly would be interested in relocating industry to Louisiana.Industry selects areas that provide a solid, educated workforce.So what does Gov. Jindal do?He dismantles the public education system in the state and demoralizes teachers, the foundation of education.This current instability is not comforting to any industry.In the long term, his remedies may prove correct. But industry is not in the betting business, so it is not going to spend hundreds of millions to relocate to Louisiana on the gamble that in 10 to 20 years Jindal’s reforms will improve the workforce.But all credit should be due to Gov. Jindal for having the courage to push bold, though misguided, changes to improve public education. Should be.However, that credit is undermined — actually destroyed — by Jindal’s supporting teaching the theory of creationism.Industry looks at his support and sees flakiness in the leader of the state’s government.Few industrial decision makers are going to relocate a plant into a state whose chief executive and Legislature are Don Quixotes to science.That is unless you want a state with a Chick-fil-A on every corner.The governor may really hurt Louisiana through his active support of lessening the restrictions on firearms in a state that proportionally boasts the highest firearms injuries and deaths in America.No matter where you fall on the meaning of the Constitution’s Second Amendment, the crimes, deaths and injuries in Louisiana through the use of firearms should unsettle you.Regardless to whether you ascribe it to crime and criminals, accidents and mistakes or deranged individuals and suicides, it is still a fact.Quality of life is a major factor industry uses to decide to build or relocate a facility. A state having three metropolitan areas — New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport — that are well-known for their levels of firearm violence does not put a check in the plus column for quality of life.Combine that with the governor’s tacit support of the bills that just passed the Louisiana House — lifetime concealed carry permits and expanding concealed carry to restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages — and it flies in the face of the national trend.Maybe the greatest impediment the governor puts forward is the lack of racial diversity he fosters in his administration.The governor’s administration and appointments reflect the “old ways.”As all industry races toward globalization, competing to attract the best and brightest, it does not feel comfortable investing in an atmosphere of racial segregation.The governor has to suffer from one of the three. Which one?

Charles Mosley, a former head of the Lafourche NAACP, lives in Thibodaux. Email him at charlesmosley3@hotmail.com.